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Tuesday morning 9.30 am I’m having test drive of new Kia Niro EV I can’t wait saw it last week a very nice motability man showed me the car inside and out . Booked test drive he said he will come round the block with me then I can go out on my own now this is the big question how long for !? The Toyota dealer next door on my present car gave me 2 hours but I’m afraid to ask I just want to bring it home in my drive 15 mins away and go around my village and on dual carriageway to see how quiet at 70 etc . It’s a demo car with stickers on the sides saying 285 mile range etc ! What should I say to the motability man Tuesday ? Many thanks for your advice in advance Thankyou
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I think you can just say what you’ve said above, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request to have the car for an hour or two
Mike, I usually take as long as I need. It is usually an hour or so for me.
I take the car home and reverse up my drive, to see if it fits primarily and see what the mirrors are like.
Then take it around a few speed bumps to see how it copes, and then park up at a kerb to see what tis liek getting in and out.
The mirrrors thing…caught me out with the Pug 2008. Its mirrors are quite small and not very good.
I would guess, take as long as you need, dont overthink it, just enjoy the drive.
I’ve taken the cars home, had a coffee and went out again.
With a test drive, I always make it clear that I want a decent time with the car – certainly at least a few hours and ideally longer. If they pull a face or say that they usually just give people an hour (or less) I say that I will be living with the car for at least 3 years and cannot possibly make a decision of that importance in less time. Usually that works.
All new cars can impress in the first hour, but it’s only when you’ve had it for much longer that you start to see the full picture and any possible drawbacks start to appear. There have been countless examples on this forum over the years of people who ordered a car after a very short test drive and then realised when they took delivery of the car that it wasn’t right for them.
How dealers handle test drive requests is often a good measure of how helpful they are going to be throughout the order process and how confident they are in the cars that they are selling. Before we ordered our current BMW X1 we had a 3 hour test drive and loved it but told the dealer that we didn’t think that the standard seats were very comfortable and we wondered if we should opt for sport seats. Rather than just suggest that we sat in another one with sport seats, the dealer gave us a brand new X1 M-Sport (with sport seats) and said “have the car for a full day and go as far as you like to make sure that you are certain”. We ordered with them and they were brilliant throughout the whole process. We got the car in 3 months when others on this forum ordering the same car at the time were waiting 5-7 months.
Berty that’s just what I want to do park on my drive 6 feet from meter and fuse box pretend I’m charging lift flap under Kia badge under bonnet etc and go over speed bumps in village etc ! The ride is important to me and the quietness I’ve been in electric cars but never drove one I had a spinal injury in 1980 so have back problems . I’ve watched many reviews of it on YouTube one chap even had 300 miles and not heard a bad word against it !
For my current car, the dealership just handed us the keys and said off you go, no time limit and no accompanying us.
We took it for a blast up the bypass, round country roads, local roads and investigated parking it up etc and more importantly, swapped drivers to make sure youngest (who is 5ft), could drive it and he then repeated the blast along the bypass, on country roads and more local ones.
I got the car in just shy of 10 weeks and have had it just over a month now.
Some of the other dealerships were a little more awkward, wanting to accompany and then it only being a 10 minute drive around the local roads.
Mike – you are doing THEM a favour by picking their car for a test drive. Take your time and give it a thorough going over. Pick an empty car park and test reverse parking just to make sure it is something you can do comfortably. I have no doubt you will struggle to find faults with the Niro.
As I’ve said before, I have taken a few cars out on test drives, and they all had varying degrees of faults that didnt suit me. But when I droe the ID.5 it ticked all the major boxes, so so easy to drive and comfortable the minute you move off.
Like yourself, If a car jostles my insides going over bumps, it puts me out of action for 4 days and in agony.
My Brother has a Kia Rio and its suspension is very very hard, I just cannot go in it. I realise that other Kia’s are not so harsh, but it kinda puts me off the brand if you know what I mean?
Anyway Mike – test drive as much cars as you can. Try save up some money if you can, it increases your choice. That is what I did over the past few months, put a little away when I could.
Enjoy the drive and dont stress….
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